In November 2022, a primary court in Beijing ruled that the food delivery platform should bear part of the liability in a case where a delivery man died while delivering food.
As lawsuits involving workers in the gig economy increase, Chinese courts are now facing difficulties in determining whether gig workers are employees and who is the employer.
Drivers in ride-hailing platforms like Uber are not employees, but independent contractors, says a newly issued Chinese government policy in 2021, which also emphasizes that the platforms should treat workers like employees in certain aspects.